Grady Lane McGowan

Jett Aubrey McGowan

February 22, 2010

Joy

I've probably heard it said a hundred times in different ways over the years, "Joy is not based upon circumstance. It transcends the ebb and flow of happiness and sadness. Joy is not so much an emotion as it is a way of life.”

This is a perfect word for our journey as parents? Our kids fill our worlds with happiness and yet they can bring us so much frustration. One minute we are laughing and the next we are calling upon our back-up self-control reserves to keep from squeezing their little cheeks off. This ain’t no sweet grandma cheek squeezin’ mind you. This is the kind of grab their face, get their attention, growl through gritted teeth squeezing. Don’t even pretend like you haven’t at least wanted to go there!

Personally, the best way to endure the seemingly constant back and forth parenting affords us is to focus on the joy that our boys bring. It’s not necessarily found when they are acting like angels or lost when they are going crazy like little devils. It’s there all the time. The joy of our children is there under the surface of the shifting tides of our daily routines and interactions with them. The times when I see most clearly through to the heart of joy are when everything is quiet and still, the night has taken my focus away from the colors and shapes of the day, and in my arms I hold a sweet little body with a face and a heart and a name. In these fleeting minutes, I try my hardest to close my eyes, breathe, forget the world outside of this little embrace, and hold my little one, my child, my little joy.